Koma Inu Tournament Round Two: Aiden vs Stewart
The day was still as bright and beautiful just as the days had been at the beginning of the tournament. With a very slight breeze the day was spectacular under the warm sun. The alluring landscape had been kept quite well around Koma Inu and the meadow was flourishing. It was a perfect battleground for a fair fight. Aiden made his entrance into the battleground by riding in on top of the armored Fidelma. He smiled to see everyone and excited that he was able to observe his friends battles before him. Aiden was elated to be back together with everyone in a tournament style competition. To see how strong everyone else had become would surely be interesting. Entering the makeshift arena blanketed by fresh-cut grass was a shirtless man standing at 5'11". His mohawk was his most distinctive feature, as a gentle breeze made it sway along with the rocking of his shoulders. He stood in the center, ready to have his first match against a fellow guild-mate after his training with Seraph Kinmichi. "Hey, Stewart!" Yelled the voice of a man in the crowd. He had white plate armor on from head to toe with golden accents all around. As he waved, he continued. "I'm rooting for you buddy!" "Lars? Oh my God!" Stewart shouted as he ran over with glee to see a long-time friend. "How did you know we were having a tournament?" Lars smiled. "I just happened to be in the area. Plus, I have my ways of gathering information, as you already know. Anyway..." Lars put both his hands on Stewart's shoulders. "I don't want to keep you for long, but I have to tell you something. Remember what I always used to say? There is a time to push foward, and a time to retreat, and the key to survival is knowing the right time to do either one. That said, Don't push yourself too much. I know you trained hard, but we all have our limits. Some limits may need to be broken, but don't risk your life trying to do so over a friendly match. I don't want to have to rush you to an infirmary, got it?" Stewart nodded before runnign tot he center of the arena, adjascent to Aiden who stood on the other side. The angle of the sunlight hitting his body outlined every crease of his muscles he worked tirelessly to tone. He stood silently as he looked at Aiden, a bit of shyness overcoming him. It would be unfair for Aiden to keep Fidelma in this sort of battle so he sent her away. He turned towards his opponent with a smile on his face. "Hey, Stewart!" Aiden went up to go shake his hand. "You, look a lot stronger than the last time I saw you. Last I heard, you were doing some special training!" "Yeah... I did. I was hoping nobody would know but, i guess it was gonna happen when you consider how i went missing during that time." Stewart said with modesty in his tone. He shook Aiden's hand, "I'll do my best. Don't hold back on me, please." "Oh don't worry," Aiden backed away from Stewart, "I won't." Aiden got into his usual fighting stance and glared at Stewart. A moment of suspense wen by as the two looked at each other without saying a word. And then within a second Aiden ran directly at Stewart with his fist cocked back and ready to give Stewart a shiner. As if Aiden was looking in a mirror, he saw Stewart lunging at him with his right fist poised in a similar fashion. However, something seemed strange about Stewart's movement, as he appeared to close the gap slightly faster than did Aiden. Because of the speed at which they drew closer, neither of them had time to formulate a counterattack. Stewart planted his foot, and while torquing his hips and feet, he launched his fist foward at Aiden's face. The two fists that were thrown hit the faces of each opponent. As contact was made, it seemed like a great force had been pushed throughout the arena caused by the strength of the punches. Aiden was sent back skidding against the ground on his feet before falling and landing on his butt. He got a bit slowly up and rubbed the side of his face which was already showing signs of deep bruising. "Thats quite a punch you have there." It should be fun to fight someone hand to hand rather than having to deal with a weapon. ''Aiden thought to himself. ''Looks like I won't have to worry about closing the gap, Stewart thought. He ignored the pain and didn't even bother to feel his face for bruising; he simply ran toward Aiden, stepping on the skid-marks that formed when he slid backward as his opponent did. He was only two feet away when Stewart planted his left foot and used it to hop upward a very short distance. With his left hand up and covering his face, he clenched his fist and lunged it forward while kicking back his right leg to add a little momentum before landing. Aiden saw that Stewart was coming at him with a super person punch and decided to grab Stewarts arm and use his own momentum against him. As Aiden grabbed the arm Aiden but his back against Stewart's chest and flipped him over and slammed Stewart into the ground in front of him. As soon as Stewart was on the ground Aiden went to punch him in the stomach. While on his back, Stewart threaded his rigth knee between Aiden''s arm and his torso. As he did, his body twisted to his right at such an angle that Aiden's fist made contact, but slipped along Stewart's abdomen, lessening the great pain it would have caused if it otherwise made a direct hit. He planted his foot onto Aiden's hips and used it to hoist himself as he grabbed Aiden's wrist, swung his left leg out and around his arm. He hooked his foot under Aiden's armpit and pulled him over stewart's body simply by bringing in his knee into his abdomen. In this position, Stewart had enough leverage to do this, and he followed through enough to make Aiden lose balance and start falling over Stewart's body to the other side. Stewart rolled bacward on the left side of his neck to follow up. He pushed up his right leg with enough force to launch aiden in the air, while tethering his arm using through the grip his left leg had on Aiden's arm. Aiden didn't fall completely over, but, at the height of his launch, he fell to the ground at stewart's left side. While aiden lay on the ground next to him, Stewart got up to his feet, but didn't stand completely as he feinted a punch to Aiden's stomach while positioning himself to leap forward as if he was anticipating... something. Aiden jumped up from being on his back away from Stewart. He then stared him down. Aiden looked to see if he could spot any obvious physical weaknesses on Stewart but failed to. Aiden then rushed in to throw a barrage of punches and kicks at Stewart in order to instigate a brawl rather than just throwing each other over one another. Stewart was able to maintain a solid stance to prepare for this barrage when Aiden got up, so it came to no surprise that Stewart blocked every single punch and kick with deft skill. He countered with more punches and kicks, But Aiden was fast enough to block them as well. As they exchanged, their feet moved about one another and made them look as if they were performing a violent dance with each other. With each step, theit feet stomped on the ground, mashing up the grass and leaving footprints in the moist soil. To the crowd, Neither Stewart nor Aiden seemed to gain the upper hand, as they continued punching, blocking, and countering in a rapid cycle that made them look like they were executing a choreographed action scene in a kung-fu movie. This continued for about a minute. Aiden then decided to turn it up a notch. "First Awakening: Ebullience!" Aiden winced a bit as inside of his body more chemical reactions were taking place. Aiden speed and strength had been improved and he came at Stewart with this might. Aiden swung with his left arm with aim towards Stewart's side but was blocked, bruising Stewarts arm. Aiden then took his right arm and was able to get a strong uppercut into Stewarts chin. Aiden then used the metal plating in his right boot to make forceful contact into the lateral portion of Stewart's thigh. Aiden's opening closed as the First Awakening began to wear off. Not good, My right leg is shot so it will be harder for me to torque my hips in this stance, ''Stewart thought. He whispered to himself "Motor Mend" and began to lightly bounce on the balls of his feet. Only to those with sensitive eyes, Stewart's body emitted a faint blue glow. ''With this spell, My body will passively heal as i move around, giving me some reward for moving through the pain. Now, It's my turn! '' Stewart thought to himself Stewart's skin became translucent and scaly, as he hardened the skin around his legs to be like a tough carapace while channeling magical energy into his feet. Stewart initiated his counterattack. He switched from a right-handed stance to a left-handed one and threw his right fist quickly at Aiden's face as if it was a jab. he knew that since his right leg was damaged, it worked better for him to switch stances to make better use of his unharmed left leg to torque his punches. Because his right leg powered his right fist, the jab was weaker than normal. While throwing his right hand, Stewart collected magical power into his left fist, and when Aiden lifted his arms high to block the hit, Stewart immediately took a tiny step backward and shouted "Arctic Dragon's Ghost Punch!" He threw forth his left fist at Aiden's left side of his hip as if his opponent was in range for his hand to make contact. Clearly, it wasn't, but stewart released the magical energy in a burst that sent forth a powerful bullet of ice-cold wind that struck Aiden's body the instant the instant it was thrown out. The hit staggered Aiden, causing him to turn to his left. Stewart took advantage of this opportunity to step his left leg outward, lift up his right, and, with the boost of power in the form of his Fleet Foot spell, he delivered a powerful kick directly in Aiden's abdomen. In the crowd, Lars witnessed this exchange and thought to himself, ''I saw that, Stewart. You used three spells in rapid succession. It may have worked now, but you are treading a dangerous path by using so many of your spells liberally. Aiden stood staring at Stewart once again from a distance Holding his stomach. He spit red onto the battleground and wiped what remained from his mouth. He then slid his hand into a pocket of the bag on his back. When his hand emerged, in between each finger was a single primed crash grenade. He then bent over and placed his hand on the ground to create crash mines around the battlefield, with only Aiden knowing the locations of them. "Watch your feet." Aiden said with a smile on his face. I wonder what he means by that? ''Stewart thought. He paid no mind to the manurver Aiden did and charged at Aiden to close the gap once more. However, as he did, he stepped on one of the landmines wich detonated from under his feet, sending him flying backward and upward. He got up, and when the smoke cleared, he saw aiden with a smile on his face, knowing that he had the advantage here. "So, you are gonna pull that, huh?" Stewart said while readying a ghost punch. As he did, he thought to himself, ''I am about 10 meters away from Aiden, so only my shout and ghost punch will be able to reach him. Since he seems to have rigged this battlefield, I m going to have to be careful. Stewart didn't say anything, he simpy collected magic energy in his mouth and let out a loud shot. Accompanying the shout was a released wave of cold wind aimed at Aiden. Aiden outstretched his hand at the oncoming blizzard. Aiden let out a blast of disassembly magic to protect himself. The net-like magic wrapped around the shout and held on until the blizzard had dissipated. Aiden then ran at Stewart still with the crash grenades in his hands and jumped into the air. Aiden threw down the crash grenades one at a time each one causing a blast of crash magic. Stewart dodged some of the blasts, though, as he did, he stepped on yet another land mine, causing an explosion under his feet that damaged him and sent him flying to about 8 meters away from Aiden. Damn it! These mines are not doing me any good! I need to know where they are! ''He thought. He landed, then got up, glaring at Aiden. ''I have to do it, I have to use it here and now otherwise I won't be able to solve the problem I am in. ''Stewart abided by his thought and said, "Arctic Dragon's White Gale Eye." His irises turned pitch black while his pupils turned white, and as his head moved, Aiden could see a faint trail of white light emanating from Stewart's non-dilated pupils. He then threw his fist out at the air at Aiden, and released a Ghost punch aimed at his torso. Aiden remembered from earlier in the fight that if Stewart were to throw a punch that wasn't nearly close enough to hit him a fast cold wave would approach him. So Aiden prepared to disassemble it quickly. But a thought ran through Aiden's head, ''"Im going to need to break this attack apart but why make it so clear as to what he is doing? Maybe there is something else to it as he casted another spell right before." As planned, Aiden held out his hand once again and used his Disassembly Magic to break down the Ghost Punch. Still weary, Aiden tried to keep his eye on Stewart. While still trying to be on the offensive, Aiden readied the Impact Dial technique. I figured after my Dragon Shout that he could nullify my magic, but now i can confrim it completely. Now... To get his to show me where those landmines are. As this thought ran through Stewart's head, he prepared to attack. this time, he charged at Aiden, ready to react to any unexpected explosions. In fact, as he ran, the short distance, he acttivated an explosion, but thanks to the sensory boost that comes with using White Gale Eye and the boost in speed of Fleet Foot, Stewart was able to step out of the way the instant the explosion activate and take minimal damage. "I've had enough of your games, how about we square up again?" Stewart said as he started throwing more ghost punches. As he did, Stewart also thought, He can't block all of them at this range because they are too fast, and I noticed that Aiden isn't as fast as I am, so he is bound to move his feet to dodge these attacks. Stewart was right, Aiden wasn't able to react quick enough and dodge all of the ghost punches that were thrown at him. So to dodge all of the punches that would be thrown at him at that moment, Aiden used his Point Break technique to break the ground beneath him quick enough that only two ghost punches would hit him, one skimming the right side of Aiden's torso and the other one straight into his left shoulder. Aiden would wait until he heard the noise of the Ghost Punches vanish in his hole. Once they stopped, Aiden climbed back up to the surface where Stewart awaited him. Stewart was able to see that the shockwave of the Point Break technique detonated a few of the landmines around Aiden. Stewart now knew that he was safe within a 9 meter radius of his opponent. As Aiden surfaced, Stewart released a steady stream of cold wind magic that created a small tornado around them that would repel anyone trying to cross it with great force. As he did, Stewart's skin became pale, and bags formed under his eyes, though he felt fine becuase his Motor Mend healed him to that point with all his movement he did earlier. In the crowd, Lars saw this, his face cringing with fear and disappointment. ''He's going too far. He won't last long if he releases magic energy like this, ''He thought to himself. He turned to a person next to him and said, "Hey, can you bring some medics here? I have a feeling something really bad is going to happen. "This is going to be risky, but it's time to put on a show! Force Fist!" As stewart said this, his hands, feel, and head were all now emanating a faint blue and white glow. The instant Aiden surfaced, he stepped on his left foot and said, "Hold still." as he threw a flurry of punches at the shoulder joints of Aiden's arms. The punches and palm strikes, boosted by force fist, made it hard for him to move his arms, though he damaged his right arm more than the left, allowing for aiden to move it some. He applied several quick palm strikes to Aiden's diaphragm to release the held air within, and then pushed him away into the cold wind tornado barrier. As Aiden made contact, the tornado pushed him back at Stewart with greater speed to which then Stewart threw a punch at Aiden's diapragm, then released a burst of cold wind to push him back into the barrier. The process repeated about four times, with each consecutive time adding more force to Stewart's fists. Using the momentum of Aiden's body going back and forth combined with the boost in power to Stewart's magic and physical attacks granted by FOrce Fist, he was able to even the odds within that quick moment in time by damaging his diaphragm the first time, his adrenal gland the second, his knee joints the third, and with the fourth time, land a hit on his chin to make him dizzy. However, with the fifth time, when Stewart went to use Arctic Dragon's One-Inch-Punch to finish, Aiden noticed that Stewart was slower than useal, and his skin pale to the point where he looked like a ghost. Aiden, weak from the flurry of punches and combos he had just received, was barely able to take the opportunity that was presented to him. Aiden wasn't strong enough in this condition to gain the upper hand on Stewart. In the small amount of time he had, Aiden was able to cast his very dangerous First Awakening: Remedy spell even with the extent of damage done to his adrenal gland. The rejuvenation of Aiden was clearly visible with color and strength seeming to flow back into his body. Next was the move to beat Stewart with. Still with he oncoming threat of Stewart coming at Aiden right after Aiden had casted his First Awakening spell it was time for another one. "Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Ikazuchi!" With a swipe of his hand the tornado barrier vanished around him. In Aiden's other hand was a fist that seemed to have electricity flowing around it. Stewart's One-Inch-Punch hit Aiden directly in the sternum, cracking Aiden's manubrium and breaking off his typhoid process. Thanks to the First Awakening, Aiden wouldn't feel this until a little while after. While Stewart's fist lingered on Aiden's chest, Aiden looked straight into Stewart's eyes as he drew back his fist and threw it into Stewart's own stomach. The punch released a shockwave and a crack as if lightning had struck. Stewart took a direct hit and flew back some 20 meters away and as he did, he bounced along the floor and activated some of Aiden's landmines, increasing the damage he took. After 30 seconds, smoke that accompanied Aiden's final strike cleared, revealing a young mage just about ready to fall over. Stewart was no better, as he tried his best to get up, but instead, his efforts gave way to violent shivering. His magic took a toll on him and, with the damage he took from Aiden's final effort, his body disobeyed when he tried to muster up strength for one last attack. Stewart got up, but immediately stumbled downward and, because he fell straight to the ground, he couldn't see Aiden following some 10 seconds later. As he lay on the ground, unable to attack or move, he let out a desperate, shivering whisper: "Someone help me... I'm cold." He then fell unconscious. Lars saw the scene unfold, and to his horror, the fight turned out the exact way as he feared. She rushed into the arena, shoving aside spectators along the way, and headed straight to stewart. He got down on one knee and examined the Incusapien Dragon SLayer. "You fool... I told you not to push yourself too hard." He said as he started applying CPR. As he pressed downward to a rhythm on Stewart's chest, he shouted to the crowd with tears in his eyes, "Don't you understand what's going on? He isn't just passed out, he has hypothermia! Bring some help!" He then looked at Aiden who was still conscious and able to observe the scene. "Just so you know, this isn't your fault. Stewart did this to himself." Aiden ran to Stewarts side trying to figure out what was wrong and if Aiden could do anything. Although Aiden should have been worrying about himself as the Remedy had begun to wear off. And bent to one knee and clutched his chest. "Somebody get Annalina or Zero!" Aiden yelled to the crowd. He then backed away allowing for all the others who were trying to help Stewart. Aiden propped himself up against a wall and could only watch at what was to unfold of this situation. Niklas all of a sudden ran onto the field. He ran toward Stewart and slid onto his knee next to him. "You damned fool", Niklas said as he gabbed his necklace from around his neck. He put the necklace around Stewart's neck and watched. He turned to Aiden, "Don't worry, my necklace, Parantaja, has healing abilities". The necklace flared a bright green. Stewart's breathing became normal again. Niklas let out a deep breath and announced, "He's good!". Lars felt Stewart's forehead. "He still feels cold, but it looks like your spell stabilized his metabolism so he should make a swift recovery." He looked up at Niklas. "Umm, do you know of any infirmaries around here?" Niklas thought for a moment and said, "The guild infirmary and the Onibus Hospital are the two closest". "Both have quality care". Niklas gave Lars directions to the quild infirmary and thus, Lars picked Stewart up and ran there. As he did, he passed by Aiden who was recuperating from the fight, looked at him and said, "I said it before, but don't think for one second that this was your fault. That was one hell of a fight, and you simply did what you had to do. Good job on that." _____________________